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Summertime plans for ISU professors may surprise students

Summertime for students often means a break for our brains, but this is not the case for most professors whose academic routines do not shut down during the summer months. A few professors shared their wild plans for their summer vacation.

Dr. Brian Rejack, Associate Professor of British Literature and Culture

Photo courtesy of Brian Rejack

“I’ll be teaching a four-week summer course in June and July, grading AP Literature exams for a week in June and presenting a paper on Keats at a conference in D.C. in July. I’ll also be working on writing a few articles that I have in the works (one on William Morris and the private press movement, and another on early-19th-century cookbooks). As for fun, I’m hoping to do some traveling, perhaps visiting some friends in Oregon. Most importantly, I’ll be riding my beloved bike for countless hours, hoping to make up for all the time spent indoor during this horrible, horrible winter.”

Dr. Duriel E. Harris, Associate Professor in Creative Writing

“Over the summer I am working on [my one woman show] “Thingification.” I have applied for a residency to work on the play’s development with my director, and I will also be researching ballroom culture and self-fashioning through gender performance and considering the way such performances inform civil rights struggle. There are also plans in the works to give a formal talk/presentation in Seoul, South Korea.”

Dr. Li Zeng, Assistant Professor in Cinema Studies

Photo courtesy of Li Zeng

“Summer is the time for me to go back to China to be with my parents for one month, to do research in Asian film studies and to prepare for the courses I will teach in the fall. I plan to attend a film festival, but most festivals that I am interested in do not take place during the summer. It depends on whether I can find an interesting one in July after I come back from China.”

Lori Adams, Head of the Acting Program

Submitted Photo

“This summer I am directing the Theatre for Young Audiences show for the Illinois Shakespeare Festival. It’s an original script written by Nancy Steele Brokaw entitled “Shake, Shake, Shake Your Shakespeare.” It will be performed on the Ewing Manor grounds throughout the summer. I’m also directing the premiere production of a new work entitled “The Human Terrain” by Jennifer Blackmer at the Mustard Seed Theatre in St. Louis. For fun, I’ll be spending a week in Stratford seeing shows at the Stratford Festival and visiting my kids in NYC.”

Kevin Rich, Professor of Acting and Artistic Director of the Illinois Shakespeare Festival

Photo courtesy of Kevin Rich

“I’m taking this as a direct invitation to shamelessly plug the Illinois Shakespeare Festival. We are ridiculously excited about our 2014 summer season. We’re bringing back the Improvised Shakespeare Company, who are hilarious, and our three mainstage plays are tied together in a really interesting way. Check out thefestival.org for more info.”

Joan Jach, Associate Professor of Geology

Submitted photo

“Usually I do the Urbana Market at the Square because I have a huge backyard, which is all a giant garden. I sell vegetables, herbs and honey, but this year I am not doing that. I am planting the garden for my family. We’re also getting chickens this summer, so that’s exciting. We have to build a coop. Another huge thing that’s happening is I was chosen to be one of the nine gardeners to be on the Master Gardeners Garden Walk this year. We invite everyone we know and have a huge potluck and dance in our backyard. It is always a ton of fun. We’re also going on vacation to Beaver Island, which is in Michigan. I’m really excited to see what kind of rocks are up there.”